[Editor’s note: In an effort to help inform our members about state and federal budget issues, Minnesota Environmental Partnership is working with the Minnesota Budget Project to cross-post updates about the budget.]
A last-minute budget deal to avert a federal government shutdown on April 8 includes approximately $38 billion in spending cuts for the current fiscal year 2011 that ends on September 30. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, more than half of the cuts, or about $19.8 billion, come from education, labor and health and human services.
Some of the cuts, measured compared to Fiscal Year 2010 funding, include:
-$2.3 billion for housing programs (see Minnesota Housing Partnership’s helpful summary of the proposed “Death by a Thousand Cuts“)
-$600 million for Community Health Care Centers
-$390 million for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
-$1.6 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (a 16 percent decrease from 2010 levels), including $997 million less than 2010 for the Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
-$141 million for the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service and a $127 million cut for the National Park Service
-$125 million for Dislocated Worker Assistance
-$415 million for State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance.
Both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are expected to vote on the package this week before leaving Washington for the spring recess.